The Fifth Epochal Revelation

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The writers of The Urantia Book list the presentation as being the fifth revelation of "epochal significance" in the history of humankind. While the phrase "Fifth Epochal Revelation" does not appear literally verbatim in the book, it is sometimes used to refer to the book.

Contents 1 Epochal revelation 2 Evolution of truth versus revelation 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Epochal revelation

In The Urantia Book, epochal revelations are presentations of truth presented by celestial sources ordained by high spirit beings in various forms and at different times in the long evolutionary histories of the peoples of inhabited worlds like those on earth. These epochal revelations are not to be confused with John's "Revelation" as it is found in The Holy Bible, or other similar "Holy Revelations" as found in other relgious books.

The Urantia Book says of epochal revelations:

P.1110 - §4 "... Revelation is a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution from the truths of spirit acquirement. ..."

Evolutionary religions tend to lose truth-value over long periods of time. The Urantia Book indicates that epochal revelations are "truth revealed", teachings of truth that would have taken ages for mankind to discover on his own. Therefore revelations that have epochal significance are monumental, stupendous undertakings with far reaching implications and consequences.

The four previous "epochal revelations" on our planet were given in the forms of actual high personalities. Two, Melchizedek and Jesus, were manifested in human form. They taught the people directly in order to impart their revelatory information. The other two were given as well-coordinated teams. They were given specific job duties and they worked in conjunction with the established planetary and universe government to impart their teachings to the people of those days.

The papers that constitute The Urantia Book are unique because they are the first of this type of epochal revelation. They are the only teaching that have been given on paper in the form of a non-living thing; a book.

In historical order, the five epochal revelations listed by The Urantia Book are:

1. "The Dalamatian Teachings"
2. "The Edenic Teachings"
3. "Melchizedek of Salem"
4. "Jesus of Nazareth"
5. The Urantia Book

[edit] Evolution of truth versus revelation

The amount of "truth" that human beings discover, learn and understand is generally earned by the slow process of evolutionary experience. One generation builds upon another. It is explained in The Urantia Book that revelation is a gift from God, or any of his ordained and assigned celestial personalities, "a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution".

From Paper 101:

"Truth is always a revelation: autorevelation when it emerges as a result of the work of the indwelling Adjuster; epochal revelation when it is presented by the function of some other celestial agency, group, or personality."

As humans collectively continue to attain more knowledge and wisdom, they will, from time to time, also eventually reach apexes where the potential for stagnation or regression is high. When crucial truths and facts are absent from science, philosophy, and religion, and when the quest for truth has become static and unspiritualized in its thinking, the elements of evil and iniquity become more manifest. At these times, celestial authorities may take action to safeguard existing truth and to impart new truths to mortal beings.

Paper 130 - "On the way to Rome":

"Knowledge is the sphere of the material or fact-discerning mind. Truth is the domain of the spiritually endowed intellect that is conscious of knowing God. Knowledge is demonstrable; truth is experienced. Knowledge is a possession of the mind; truth an experience of the soul, the progressing self. Knowledge is a function of the nonspiritual level; truth is a phase of the mind-spirit level of the universes. The eye of the material mind perceives a world of factual knowledge; the eye of the spiritualized intellect discerns a world of true values. These two views, synchronized and harmonized, reveal the world of reality, wherein wisdom interprets the phenomena of the universe in terms of progressive personal experience."

"The Urantia Book"101:9.1: Revelation unfailingly enlarges the ethical horizon of evolved religion while it simultaneously and unfailingly expands the moral obligations of all prior revelations.

[edit] See also

• The Urantia Book
• Glossary of terms in The Urantia Book

[edit] References

• Urantia Foundation (1955). The Urantia Book. Urantia Foundation. ISBN 0-911560-02-5

[edit] External links

• Urantia Foundation The Urantia Foundation website - publisher; complete information about the book.
• Paper 92 - The Later Evolution of Religion
• Paper 101 - The Real Nature of Religion